Harvey Weinstein’s accuser, Ambra Battilana Gutierrez, hopes to finally be able to appear in a Manhattan court.
The 31-year-old former model and actress worked with New York police to catch the “Pulp Fiction” producer admitting he sexually assaulted her in 2015, during a casting call in his SoHo office.
His efforts helped move the case forward by countering the defense’s argument that the sex was consensual.
The affair gave birth to the #MeToo movement.
She still remembers what happened like it was yesterday.
“It was around 5 p.m. in late February 2015,” she told the Post. “I was 22 and about five minutes into our conversation he just grabbed my breast.”
The powerful producer tried to kiss her and “put his hand on me,” she claimed.
“It was just crazy because I was in a safe place, right outside, people were working at their desks and this is literally a sick person,” she said.
She was never called to the stand when Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance won a rape conviction against Weinstein in 2020.
But she could get another chance after a jury overturned the conviction Thursday.
Now she would like to see Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg retry the case and give her a chance to be heard.
“This case needs to be retried,” she said. “We need to stop these people who think they have so much power that they can do these things. »
In overturning the decision, the court determined that prosecutors prejudiced the jury by allowing them to hear cases not directly related to the charges.
Guttierez, who testified against Weinstein in Los Angeles where he is serving a 16-year prison sentence for rape, is upset that he may have attacked women after her.
“I see what he did after me and that’s what makes me very angry,” she said. “I’m really annoyed and upset by the prosecutor’s handling in 2015. I hope this time everything goes the right way.”
New York Post
